In-World War

Frustration nation

The last week has been very frustrating.

First, I'm totally lost trying to figure out how to edit the audio samples for the music soundtrack. After screwing it up a few times, I just gave up and ordered a how-to book for the software. I have a few friends that are musicians, so I'm going to try to hook up with them to give a primer. Problem is that one works with PCs (I have a Mac of course) and the other is very high-end and uses Pro-Tools (which I cannot afford).

I did get one proto-song created, which was VERY rewarding. Nothing major: just about a minute or so of ethereal background soundscape. But if I can refine my composition a bit, that's certainly in the ballpark of the type of movie music I want to create.

But that victory was buried under the subsequent confusion and repeated errors in trying to modify a sample. Basically, I just don't know how to do it right.

Writing has been tough as well. I'm at the point of moving from the notecards to the full outline (don't worry, I'll still use the notecards, but the outline and treatment will be how I will start to get feedback from others). I want to use a screenwriting application to get the formatting and process correct, right from the start, rather than work in Word.

Of course, nothing is easy. The software I bought at MacWorld (Mariner Software's Montage) is too new and doesn't have a real notecard function nor the important ability to do two-column screenplays. I need the two-column format since the whole thing has voice-over -- often over the location dialogue.

Looking at (cheap/free) alternatives, the open source Celtx program also lacked notecard functionality. How do these programmers think we're supposed to write screenplays without notecards or other way to summarize and move around scenes -- and print out outlines/treatments? I guess they expect us to do this stuff outside of their application, which I find totally unacceptable. Is it too much to ask to have it all connected in one place?

So now I'm looking at going straight to the top of the line in screenwriting software and have decided to buy Final Draft, both the main program and Final Draft AV. FD AV will allow me to do a full two-column script. I didn't even know the separate AV program existed, and it's perfect for what I'm doing. A bit more expensive, but between eBay and my upcoming academic discount, it should be around $200 for both (a steal).

During this research process, I have basically stopped writing, which has been very depressing. It's like being on a roadtrip and having to work on the car instead of drive. It's killing me.

So I've decided to start working with Word (ug) while I wait for my academic discount to materialize.

As for the music, we'll see if the book will do the trick and perhaps with help from my musical friends I can start making progress.

Overall, I feel like I've been lost in the woods and not making any progress -- and the weeks are just sliding by as my savings run out.....

A title at last: In-World War

Oakland, CA

We finally have a title: In-World War

It's perfect, both for the plot and the theme. It also is sexy (well, insofar as war is ever sexy -- you know what I mean: it's dramatic). And it sounds like sci fi, which is key. We learned through Quality of Life that a title can really hurt you commercially even if it's the right thing artistically. With this one, I have both.

I'm working every day on the project. Half my day at least is devoted to the film, mostly writing but recently I started working on the soundtrack too.

The writing has been tough, but I've made a huge amount of progress. I feel like it gets stronger each day. I'm focusing on the structure and outline -- really setting the guideposts of the plot mostly.

The big shift for me was about a month ago when I finally made a commitment that my writing and the film itself were my top priorities. And rather than find time if I had time, I had to switch around and make it happen and all the other things (mostly related to Quality of Life distribution, but other tasks too) would come second. If I didn't have time for them, then they would slide. But the writing and film-related stuff happened for sure.

A few things popped up here and there that interrupted this flow. I went to Sundance (my first time -- totally last minute and a fantastic way to feel like a part of the indie film community). I worked with Ben to produce his short film for On The Lot, the one they asked him to write, produce and edit in 7 days -- that literally sucked up about 5 days nonstop end-to-end. Hopefully he gets on the show It would be great for him and great for Quality of Life. That's why I spent so much time on it, even though it wasn't my project.

[Update: He made it to the top 100 or so, but then got cut. Oh well, the show supposedly sucked.].

But midst it all, I kept writing and now I'm on the cusp of having a full first-draft outline. There are still some holes -- and I already know it's got too many scenes -- but it will be the starting point for revision.

The soundtrack was another matter. I've written before, but never ever created music. I'm basically ignorant of music theory and totally new to the software tools. I'm coming at this 100% from scratch. That's a little scary. Well, actually it's really damn frightening. And depressing. As I've been playing with some of the audio software and realizing that I'm way out of my league here.

After a couple days of fooling around with the music software, I was depressed and fully intimidated. Who did I think I was trying to score my own film? And not taking the easy route of just stringing together samples, but using my own vocalizations. I'm no beat boxer. My limited attempts at working with the applications were extremely pathetic. I left pretty depressed each time.

But today was different. I started working with Audacity, the open source music editor and actually ended up with a real track. It's short (about a minute or so), but it clearly is music and could definitely be used to create mood. Good enough for my first try. I even had Jen listen to it and she liked it (or at least was kind enough to lie).

My goal is to create twenty tracks before I start doing any scoring for the film itself. I want to get good at using the software and get my bad music (or the worst of it) out of me in the process. I'm considering In-World War as my student film, so these twenty tracks will be my student music, since I don't have the luxury of having bad music in it (I know I can easily get good music/samples from friends/online sources).

Maybe I'll release the twenty tracks as an album called "Student Body" or "Bad Bad Vegan" or something.